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Category Archives: Business

What does a copy-writer do?

08 Jun

As well as copy-editing, I also do copy-writing.  Not every copy-editor is a copy-writer, and not every copy-writer is a copy-editor, but I’ve had plenty of experience doing both.

Copy-writing involves writing content, whether it’s for an article, a blog, a website, marketing materials or a press release; for print or online. Most of the copy-writing I do involves websites and marketing materials.  I work with web designers who might have a client in any kind of industry, who wants a set of web pages but uses professionals to a) design the actual look and functionality of the pages and b) write the content for them.  Some web developers are happy doing both; some recognise that they need to contract out the writing, whether because that’s not their forté or because they don’t have time to do both.

When I’m writing for a website, I do need certain information: I can create something out of nothing, but it’s hard to fulfil the client’s requirements if I don’t know what they are – I’m a good writer, but I’m not psychic!  So I like to send the client and web designer a little questionnaire, to establish points like:
– how many pages the website has and their titles (so I know which different sections I need to write for)
– basic information about the client – if I can have some of their existing marketing materials or a previous website, that’s really useful
– an idea of the kind of style they are looking for – serious, sales-orientated, enthusiastic, calm, funny …
– an idea of how much information they are looking for for each page – how many words
I then sit down with a list of headings and all the information to hand and write – I usually do this in Word or Notepad so I can pop it through to the web designer in a useful format.

Then it’ll go to the web designer and the client to have a look at – the web designer will put it into the design they’ve already made and the client will have a look at it. There’ll usually be a bit of feedback and I might have a chat with the client direct, and then I’ll make the necessary tweaks.

For example: I worked on a website for a motivational speaker recently.  I worked from his current website and some brochures and an autobiographical feature he’d written.  Once I’d got some bits and pieces together we had a chat on the phone about the tone of the website, and I subsequently changed the focus a little bit and clarified various points – and there we were!

If I’m working on marketing materials or a press release for a client, it’ll work in a similar way – I’ll need something to base it on and then I’ll go from there, with plenty of feedback from the client as needed.

Some people worry that anything I write for them will be in “my” style, where they want it to reflect their style and personality. But a good copy-writer is able to be something of a chameleon, adapting their style to the matter, and client, at hand.  I enjoy the challenge of doing this, and it helps with my copy-editing work, too, where it’s important to retain the client’s voice rather than imposing my own.

 
17 Comments

Posted by on June 8, 2011 in Business, Skillset, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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Virtual Assistant or Website Designer? I can help!

07 Jun

If you’re a busy Virtual Assistant (VA) you know that there are some jobs you need to give that personal touch … but others that are more routine and can be outsourced.  If you’re designing websites, often the design and functionality is your forté and you could outsource the copy writing, either because it frees up some of your time, or because it’s not your speciality.

I provide all sorts of services, from copy writing through to copyediting, proofreading, transcription and copy typing.  Here are some ideas for projects I could help you with.

For VAs:

  • I can take routine copy typing or audio typing off your hands
  • I can pick up overflow work when you’re really busy
  • Maybe you prefer not to work weekends but have a valued customer who needs a rush job completing – I work weekends and can let you know availability very quickly
  • I can help you offer services like copy writing or copyediting/proofreading which are outside your usual skillset, allowing you to offer an all-round service to your clients

For website designers:

  • I can write new copy for your clients, based on existing websites and marketing materials or from going through a questionnaire with them
  • I can polish ideas your clients already have into coherent and useful web content
  • I can proofread the final website (including checking links)
  • I can insert keywords into the web content in a natural way to help with the SEO

I don’t need to contact your clients direct; I’m happy to work through you.  And my standard agreement means there’s no worry about me “poaching” your customers – I’m more than happy to work with you long term to satisfy your clients’ needs.  You won’t be employing me, simply outsourcing some of your work; I’ll invoice you an agreed amount per hour and you can invoice your clients whatever you want to!

Talk to me today about outsourcing some of that routine work and getting on with the things that you do best, and that differentiate you from other VAs and web designers.

Have a look at what a copyeditor and proofreader does; see references from my satisfied clients.

Contact me via email or via my contact form.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on June 7, 2011 in Business, Copyediting, Jobs, Organisation, proofreading, Transcription, Writing

 

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New logo and graphics!

07 Jun

Many thanks to Sally Findlay from Recognition Express, who has created a logo and some graphics for my blog for me.  Sally listened to what I required, and listened again when I gave her feedback on the initial designs, and produced some lovely images that I’m more than happy to use.  As well as graphic design, Recognition Express offers loads of branded promotional goodies – a good company to know about and be able to recommend!

my logo

My new logo

Thanks Sally!

 
3 Comments

Posted by on June 7, 2011 in Business

 

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Would you buy an e-book on lowering cholesterol?

03 Jun

I’m considering writing and publishing a short book on how I managed to lower my cholesterol levels through diet and exercise, spelling out exactly how I did it, and how it might be possible for other people to do it too.  I am not planning on making any grandiose claims for being able to solve people’s problems, and I’m certainly advocating a happy and food-filled existence.  I will make sure I add caveats for those who have very high levels and other issues, etc., etc.  I’ll make sure I present properly researched medical facts as well as my own experience.

I’m planning to use my new Kindle publishing skills to publish it for Kindle and make it available via Amazon.

What I need to know is – would you buy this (for yourselves or someone you know).  And if you’d buy it, how much would you be willing to pay?

Thanks for your help!

 
4 Comments

Posted by on June 3, 2011 in Business, New skills, Writing

 

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What does a proofreader do?

01 Jun

When most people think of “proofreading”, they are actually thinking of copyediting, which I’ve discussed in a previous post.

Proof-reading is, officially, checking proofs of a publication just before they are published.  So when I’m proofreading, I’m effectively looking for different things to when I’m copyediting.  For a start, the document is often different – for example, when I’m working on a magazine or book, the text I copyedit is usually presented to me in a word processing programme like Word, whereas the proofs come in pdf format.  That’s because that’s how, essentially, they will go to the printer, so they represent the final, finished form of the book or magazine.

All of the grammatical, punctuation and spelling stuff should have already been covered by the copyeditor, and the facts checked by the copyeditor, editor, author or fact-checker (whether or not I’m one of these people in the project too).  What I’m now looking for is inconsistencies and errors in how the text and the surrounding “business” appears on the page.  So I’ll check for …
for books and magazines:
– page numbers being sequential and starting at the right point
– pictures having captions and the captions describing the correct picture
– widows and orphans – individual words or lines which get left alone on either the previous page to the main text (e.g. if a paragraph starts at the bottom of the page or, worse, there’s a short phrase introducing a quotation or the beginning of a text box) or the page afterwards (the last few words of a paragraph or text box, for example)
– changes in font size that weren’t intentional
– the contents page or list matches what’s there in the publication
for books in particular:
– the running headers being correct, i.e. one has the publication name and the other has the chapter title (for the correct chapter)
– chapters all starting on a right-hand page as you hold the book open
– all extra material (bibliographies, index … ) included and in the right order

As it’s in pdf format at this point, I’ll use my software to annotate the pdf and then send it back to the client.  Sometimes I’ll get a second look at it once these corrections have been made.

And that’s what a proofreader does.

 
20 Comments

Posted by on June 1, 2011 in Business, Copyediting, proofreading, Skillset, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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What does a copyeditor do?

25 May

I’ve noticed that people have been finding this website and blog by searching for “what does an editor do”?  So I thought a quick example or two might be in order!

What a copyeditor actually does is make sure the text the author has written doesn’t have spelling, grammar, punctuation and factual errors.  When I’m copyediting a piece, I work in several different ways (according to how my client wants me to work with them):

– a Word document and “track changes” – I turn Track Changes on in Word and it shows up exactly what I do, whether it’s deleting something, moving it, or adding a word here and there.  I also use the “comments” facility to highlight a word or phrase and then ask a question or offer some alternatives.   When the client receives the document from me, they choose “show final markup” in Track Changes (or similar, depending on what word processor they’re using) and then go through accepting or rejecting my changes with the click of a button.  I always work like this with students, so they have to decide whether to accept each change, retaining ownership and authorship over the piece of work.  But some other clients like me to do this too.

– a Word document with the changes already made. This is sometimes called a “clean copy”.  I make the changes I think are needed, and the client trusts that I’m right and doesn’t need me to tell them what I’ve done.  I work like this with some clients from the start; some move over to this format after we’ve worked together for a while.  If a client isn’t a student, I offer them one of each of these two, then they can see what I’ve done but don’t have to go through accepting each change.

– an annotated PDF.  I work this way with clients whose work is already in PDF format, or when I’m copyediting web pages.  I print a copy of each web page to PDF or open the PDF document, and use a dedicated application that allows me to highlight parts of the text and add call-out boxes with comments in.  Clients who use this method include anyone who has a set of web pages, and, for example, magazine publishers, who send me the pages as they will look in the final magazine (check back soon for information on when this constitutes “proofreading”).

So, for an example, I’ve made up a piece of text that’s riddled with errors, and then I present my corrected copy underneath.  So I don’t inadvertently plagiarise someone, I’ve used my own text from another blog post.

———

From the author:

Now I’ve got more flexibility in my time-table, I suggested to my friend Laura who also works from home (and cafes, and her office…that we add in some “co-working” time to our regular lunches. The definition of coworking has extended from its original ‘working with colleauges’ idea to include working in paralell with other people, who are probably not your direct colleagues, in a space which is probably not both of your offices. That sounds a bit muddled – it’s basicly those set of people with laptop’s sitting around a big tables in your local cafe.

So, we decided to try doing this ata local cafe, and now we decided to start writing a irregular series of reviews of local venues with free wifi in which it’s possible (or possible) to work. We’re going to work our way around Queens Heath and then possibly venture farther a field.

My corrected version:

Now I’ve got more flexibility in my timetable, I suggested to my friend Laura, who also works from home (and cafes, and her office … ) that we add in some “co-working” time to our regular lunches. The definition of co-working has extended from its original “working with colleagues” idea to include working in parallel with other people, who are probably not your direct colleagues, in a space which is probably not either of your offices. That sounds a bit muddled – it’s basically those sets of people with laptops sitting around a big table in your local cafe.

So, we decided to try doing this at a local cafe, and then we decided to start writing an irregular series of reviews of local venues with free wifi in which it’s possible (or impossible) to work. We’re going to work our way around Kings Heath and then possibly venture further afield.

———-

There are some variants: a substantive copyedit, for example, will include all of the above work, plus I’ll be looking for inconsistencies in the text as a whole: for example, a character in a biography’s name changing, or the layout of a house being inconsistent in a novel – a bit like being a continuity person for a film.

In the next few weeks, I’ll talk about what a proofreader, copy writer and transcriber does (maybe even a copy typist, too!)

 
25 Comments

Posted by on May 25, 2011 in Business, Copyediting, Jobs, Punctuation, Skillset, What Do I Do?

 

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On (not) taking risks

18 May

What do you think of when you think of an entrepreneur? Richard Branson grinning from a hot air balloon basket, secure with his millions? Those people who started off selling eggs when they were 3 and were always selling something, so now they’ve got an empire? After writing the introduction to my latest guest post, I was thinking about what an unlikely entrepreneur I am. I never showed a flair for business as a child. I kept my head down, did mainly admin jobs; was a good problem solver and solid worker, but not that exciting or, frankly entrepreneurial. Did anyone who knows me see Libro coming, and being the success it is now?

Now, I’m not setting myself up to be a business guru. But I’ve been doing this for a few years now, and I feel I have some insights and experience which it might be useful to share. So: I think there are different ways of being an entrepreneur. Some people throw everything into it and take lots of risks (aha – the title is coming in now …). Others, like me, are more careful. And maybe we won’t get the multi-million rewards (and the failures, and the lack of time for family and friends, and the stress …) but we’re still brave.

I started my business. I didn’t know what was going to happen. But I didn’t take a risk with my finances and lifestyle: I ‘soft-launched’, which means that I started the business part-time while working, full-time at first, at my day job. Some people think doing this shows a lack of commitment – I don’t think I show a lack of commitment to Libro, but I do want to protect my own interests while proceeding with the business.

I went part-time at my day job. But I wasn’t taking too much of a risk, because I’d made sure in advance that I was making enough money with Libro to cover the loss of earnings – both times that I decreased my hours at the Library.

I’ve reached out to potential clients via Twitter and Facebook. But I did it more personally, subtly, answering tweets for help, reminding people of what I’m doing, rather than taking out expensive ads on all the social media. I’ve used social media and have gained clients through it, but at no cost apart from my time.

I certainly felt a bit nervous when I went to my first networking meeting. “Wear your normal business attire,” they said. What? My pajamas, or tracky bottoms and a hoody? But I suited up and went for it, and made some good contacts. Later on, I started going to the Social Media Cafe and now I’m helping out at the Social Media Surgeries. But I didn’t risk a lot of money on expensive memberships, or put everything into one form of networking; at the time of my first meeting, I was working full-time still and could not have coped if I’d suddenly developed lots of new customers. And I’m still evaluating the cost-benefit analysis of the bigger networking groups, and actively seeking new smaller, local ones to join.

So what I’m saying is, you don’t have to go out all guns blazing. If you’ve got an idea for a business but you’re not sure what to do next, think about it and start small. If you fail, you haven’t risked everything and lost it. If you succeed, you can grow slowly and carefully. It won’t work for everyone, but nothing does. This maybe offers an alternative to jumping in, if you’re not a natural risk-taker.

Good luck!

 
6 Comments

Posted by on May 18, 2011 in Business, New skills

 

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(Co)Working our way around town Part 1

11 May

Now I’ve got more flexibility in my timetable, I suggested to my friend Laura, who also works from home (and cafes, and her office … ) that we add in some “co-working” time to our regular lunches. The definition of co-working has extended from its original “working with colleagues” idea to include working in parallel with other people, who are probably not your direct colleagues, in a space which is probably not either of your offices. That sounds a bit muddled – it’s basically those sets of people with laptops sitting around a big table in your local cafe.

So, we decided to try doing this at a local cafe, and then we decided to start writing an irregular series of reviews of local venues with free wifi in which it’s possible (or impossible) to work. We’re going to work our way around Kings Heath and then possibly venture further afield.

Our reviews will appear on both of our blogs and appear at the same time – I wonder if we’ll have the same opinion of all of them!

Loco Lounge, High Street, Kings Heath

This large, relaxed cafe bar hasn’t been open long but seems popular with the locals, with the outside section being full on these sunny Easter days. It was pretty empty when I arrived at around 10.30 am – but this was a good thing, as I was a bit nervous about taking the laptop out and about.

First things first – a decent pot of tea can be had for £3, and they have soya milk if not skimmed (I am on a special diet for health reasons – you’ll see a lot about milk from me!) although the server didn’t seem sure about how to access the free wifi that was advertised at the front of the cafe. But she asked a manager and we were told that, instead of being given a generic username and password, we needed to set up our own logins. Fair enough, although not something I’ve come across before. The wifi was through something called U2com and I think it’s probably used across a number of locations, perhaps all of the “lounge” cafes. Fair enough, again, but it was *really* complicated to log on and use it – first of all we had to wait ages for the relevant page to come up, and then you put in a username and password, which did actually give access to the wifi connection, had we but known it, but it then redirected me to another login page, which proceeded to tell me the username was already in use (by me!) and sent Laura off to a validation page which never quite worked. I got a validation email too, which I didn’t seem to need to use.

So that was annoying, and the connection was quite slow and did drop from time to time. The other slight annoyance was the lack of electricity sockets – the only ones we could see were occupied by the plugs for standard lamps, which weren’t on. My other experiences of using the laptop in cafes suggests that there are usually more points available. Luckily I was fully charged up and it wasn’t a problem this time, but it might have been.

Points in Loco Lounge’s favour: it was nice and quiet; the tables were big and well-spaced, so it felt safe to have the laptops out and open, with less risk of spillage and other accidents than some other places I’ve visited. The staff were discreet and subtle and we weren’t hassled to buy more drinks, although we did end up having another drink (me) and lunch (Laura). No comment on the food from me, as I didn’t have any, but the prices seemed a little high for snacks, although there were a good few options for my diet, which was refreshing. The lighting is comfortable, there are free newspapers available to browse, and I certainly felt secure enough to sit and work there for a morning or afternoon.

In summary: tweak the internet connection and login and this is a great and recommended place for co-working as well as other kinds of visit.

For Laura’s review, go here!

 
4 Comments

Posted by on May 11, 2011 in Business, Organisation, Reviews

 

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What have I been up to in April?

04 May

Time to update you all on what I’ve been up to in the last month or so!

April has been a time for my lovely regular customers. My physiotherapy clinic from Cirencester, my translator from Finland, my Taiwanese Master’s student, the journalist whose interviews I transcribe and my American PR agency have all sent me various projects this month, including sorting out a set of blog posts and setting up categories and tags for them, copyediting end-of-year reports for various businesses, writing press releases, transcribing an interview with a doyen of folk music, etc.

I’ve also done some individual projects for some students, and some urgent copytyping work for a friend who’s a Virtual Assistant who had too much on her plate one weekend. I do like to be helpful (actually, Bernadette’s organising a get-together for Virtual Assistants on May 18 in Birmingham – let me know if you’d like an invitation).

I’ve also been busy with my Iris Murdoch and Book Groups project – my first two regular groups (as opposed to the pilot group) have just read the book, with several more to come in May and groups signing up all the time (do get in touch if you’re interested in taking part).

Looking forward, I’ve gone more part-time at the Library job from the beginning of May, so I’ll have four days a week that I can devote to Libro projects if I need to. I’m looking forward to having a better work-work-life balance from now on! And I’ll also have room to take on some more clients, regular and one-off.

I’ve got some PhDs on the go, I should be doing some more writing and copyediting for one of my web developer clients, and the student dissertations are likely to start building up. If you know someone whose dissertation is due in May – October and they need it checked over, please do ask them to get in touch with me to book in as soon as possible. And of course, work for my regulars will hopefully continue to pop into the inbox!

 
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Posted by on May 4, 2011 in Business, Jobs, Organisation, What Do I Do?

 

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5 top tips for working from home

27 Apr

This month’s guest post is from Annabelle Beckwith of Yara Consulting and Coach Me Confident. I met Anna on our very first day at University (ahem) years ago, and we’ve been friends ever since. Anna was always the dynamic, arty one, full of ideas and enthusiasm, whereas I was more of a plodder. I don’t think either of us would have thought that, (ahem) years on, we’d both be running our very different businesses! Anna’s company Yara offers innovative and exciting training methods that really work – she’s been doing it longer than me, and working full-time from home, so many of us could benefit from her tips for making a home office work well and smoothly. Over to you, Anna …

Working From Home – 5 top tips

Several years ago, I worked from a rather expensive city centre office, in the mistaken belief that it would impress my clients. Sitting on the crowded commuter train one morning, it occurred to me that working from home would be a far more sensible option, cutting down massively on costs and travel and, well … just making an awful lot more sense.

Working from home, of course, has massive advantages – the flexibility and the comfort factor among them. It does, though need a different mindset. Here are my top 5 tips for anyone thinking of working from home:

1. Get organised!

If, like me, you’re not the world’s tidiest person, you will need to exert some self discipline to keep your work in order. This will range from organising your work space (so you don’t scatter things around the house and end up losing half of it), to ensuring that you have some sort of filing system, to making sure that you keep track of your finances.

It might seem like a bit of a faff to spend time at the beginning setting up a few systems, but believe me, it will be time well invested, and you’ll feel the benefit of it later on!

2. Set your goals

Two big areas for me at the start of my working-from-home career were goal setting and prioritising. The freedom of working from home can be such that it’s easy to end up running round like a headless chicken, doing lots of ‘stuff’ but not actually achieving anything.

Make sure you have clear goals about what you want to achieve, and devise a plan or schedule that will enable you to keep track of it all, and get the work done.

3. Learn to prioritise

Prioritisation is another key area for the home-worker: with no-one else telling you what to do, it’s important that you prioritise the right tasks. Avoid the temptation to do the things you like doing, or can get out of the way quickly and prioritise on the basis of how urgent and/or important something is (Steven Covey). Brian Tracy’s book ‘Eat That Frog’ is a good one on this subject.

4. Find your balance

When I first started working from home, people would say to me, “how do you deal with all the distractions?” as if the lure of daytime TV or endless cups of tea might overwhelm the necessity to actually do some work.

I’m sure that most home-workers will find that the reverse is true: it can actually be difficult to switch off. I often find myself writing blogs or e-mails later in the evening, when my kids are asking me to spend time with them.

Don’t lose sight of the reason for actually working from home in the first place (in my case, to be able to spend more time with my kids). Make sure you strike a healthy balance.

5. Join a network

One of the drawbacks of working from home – particularly if you’re working full time – is that you don’t have the advantage of being able to socialise with colleagues. Join some networks – online ones like LinkedIn are great, but find some that have local meetings and will enable you to make some new contacts and meet other people in the same boat.

Who knows – it may even lead to more business!

If you’ve enjoyed this guest post, you can find more like it, including a great recent series on goal-setting, on the Yara blog.

 
5 Comments

Posted by on April 27, 2011 in Blogging, Business, Guest posts, Organisation

 

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